Hr. Ms. O 19 1938 by Piet - FINISHED - scale 1:50 - submarine of the Royal Navy Netherlands in service 1939 - 1945

[Piet]

I had to dedicate some time to protect a few of our cold sensitive plants today.  We are expecting temps down to about 28 or 29 degrees F tonight.  Fortunately it's only going to last till morning, then the temps are going back up.  Wonder how cold it'll be in the garage aka the shipyard 

 

I spend most of the day on metal work.  I made two navigation or position light fixtures.  These will be soldered to the antenna brace (see pic # 4)  I'll have to remake them because they are a tad too small.  No problem, it only takes me 20 minutes for each one, not counting the soldering though.

 

The major job for today was making the shield for the front of the cockpit / bridge.  I decided to make it from brass sheet and the frame from a piece of 90 degree brass angle.   It worked out okay and is now cemented on.

 

I also made the antenna brace and soldered to the cross bar to the upright posts.  I can't cement them to the model yet because I need to drill several holes in it for the antenna wire, the ship's bell and solder the nav/position light fixtures to it.

 

Well, I guess that's all for today.  Some pics below.

 

This shows the forward cockpit cover shield loosely laid on for fit.  Looks good and is ready for the final trim and then cementing it on.  I am using 5 minute epoxy for this so I can hold it down for a proper fit.

 

This is another shot from the rear.

 

A blurred picture of the navigation or position light fixtures.  The second issue parts will be soldered to the sides of the antenna brace posts.

 

This then is the antenna brace made from brass tubing.  The cross beam I made oval by squeezing it in the vice.  It's soldered together and temporarily installed.  I need to drill a few holes in the top bar for antenna wire and ship's bell.

Then we'll epoxy it in place and cover the tubes inside the cockpit with file folder paper to simulate sheet metal and paint.  

I have already made the engine power setting telegraph and repeater, which are installed behind the antenna brace.

You can also see the cockpit shield cemented on. 

 

Cheers,

[harvey1847]

Love to see your log Piet!

 

It keeps growing every single day. It is like reading the news every single morning...

 

Now I can see the cockpit, I´m a believer... I´ve got a question, if all that space is covevered with water, when the sub emerges how you "evacuate" the water? Does it has some kind of scuppers? or they pump out the water?

 

By the way, my indoor workshop is about 10ºC...

 

 

Daniel.

[texxn5]

Definitelymoving along now.  Excellent work Piet....I'm not tking a break, just doing piddly stuff to the bowsprit and masts....

[Piet]

Hello everyone, Piet here from chilly but sunny Florida and thanks for dropping in, it's also chilly in the dockyard.  Thanks for all your "like" votes.

 

Hello Daniel, thanks for visiting, I love to have you visit, pull up a chair and stay a while  Yes, the cockpit or bridge is shaping up, almost done.  There are slits on the bottom of the side plates at the cocpit deck level to allow the water to drain out.  Thanks for reminding me, I still need to carve them in, forgot in my hurry to close it up.  No problem though.

Well, my workplace was above freezing this morning and I could do some work with a heavy jacket on.  It'l  get to be 21 C at the end of the week   

 

Hi John, yeah, I read your log, building mast parts and you finished the bowsprit.  Can't wait for your update pics.  Thanks for your comments, I'm loving it.

 

I finished the antenna brace today.  Drilled the necessary holes in it without breaking a drill bit and soldered the navigation light fixtures on them.  Then cemented the assembly into the model using epoxy and also put the simulated steel plates over the exposed tubes with paper.  

Then glued some pieces of wood to the tops of the cock[it sides to close it off nice.  These will be shaped tomorrow and then finish painting the inside of the bridge.

 

Am also working at the end of the conning tower to make the aft deck spot light fixture and the flagpole stand and dingy hoist fixture.

A few other small details to do before the top of the con is completed.

 

Sorry, no pictures today

 

 

[popeye the sailor]

the coning tower is filling in nicely........your doing a super job of it.   I remember when I lived in Deland / Lake Mac, they had the citrus freeze.....think it was back in '76.   did you live down there then?  how is everything faring down there........it's been anything but normal all over.

[Piet]

Thank you Popeye, yes, the bridge is indeed coming along fine.  Except for the crew hatch inside the cockpit the bridge is done.  I am working on the hatch now and it should be installed tomorrow.

Right now I don't know the status of the citrus condition.  They are also battling a fungus disease and many trees have to be destroyed to prevent it from spreading.  My own orange tree is also effected by that fungus and will have to be removed.

Palm coast is not too far from Deland, we are between St. Augustine and Daytona Beach between Rt 1 and I 95, nice area.

 

Cheers,

[Piet]

My thanks to everyone who dropped in and your like votes.

 

It was still a little chilly in the garage but it's warming up, it was 55 F.  I tried to finish the bridge today but could not complete the crew hatch there.  The Admiral found a little brass looking bell dangling from a demitasse spoon.  It's still a little too large but I hung it anyhow.  I'm still going to look for a little bell though, like girls or ladies have hanging on a charm bracelet.

I also cemented the engine power telegraphs and repeaters and painted the bridge area.  I'm pleased.

 

Then I made the most aft part of the aft gun deck.  I made it out of brass sheet in the form of a T and soldered a 2 mm brass tube to the top for the flagpole / railing stanchion.  The bottom leg of that T has a hole for the pulley to hoist the dingy out.   I managed to shove this brass piece under the already existing deck and then covered it with a small piece of 1 mm ply as the continuation of the deck.  For all practical purposes it looks like it's made out of one piece of steel plate.  Still needs some dressing up on the bottom side.

Below that will be the aft deck spot light.

 

Next will have to be the rest of the hatch and AA gun bun hinges so I can start installing the deck slats and railing.  I also need to finish the periscopes, antenna mast and the snorkel pipes.  

 

You may have noticed that I am working my way down do the main deck.

 

Below are a few pics of how all this looks as of today.

 

We are looking at the starboard side of the bridge with the engine telegraph and repeater, the antenna brace with the Admiral's bell.  It looks like I may to to some minor "body" filling under the railing top 

 

This is looking into the bridge from a ¾ angle from the rear port side.  The paint is really grey, it may have taken on the reflection from that piece of plywood behind the model.

 

Looking forward and sorry for not holding the camera horizontal.  Here you can see the aft end of the rear AA gun deck with the flag pole / railing stanchion.  Right below that is where the aft deck spotlight will be.  What appears to be a hole below the flagpole is actually the vertical leg of the T where a pulley can be hung.  Yes, the gun bun still needs to be dressed properly and that's on the to do list.

 

This is a ¾ aft side view of the bridge looking aft from the port side.

 

Port siide view of the conning tower.  Ah yes, door hinges - - - 

 

Cheers,

[harvey1847]

8:22 AM.

 

With those square doors that tiny superstructure make the impression of a little house to me. It could be design in our days from MVRDV dutch architects for example... Watching so many movies with all the doors with round corners have "intoxicated" me. Funny how the things were done on 1939 or before and how the designe of a single door has changed over the years.

 

Here´s a pic I have found on inet, you might have it. With the amount of pics on your log, I´m sure will be here... Anyway It´s another one that goes to my wall on a frame!

 

 

Happy day!

 

 

Daniel.

[Sailor1234567890]

Interesting that there's a helm on the bridge. I've never seen that in a sub. Ours have a radio and a voice pipe down to the helmsman in the control room. Of course we check and double check that the hull and back up valves to both the voice pipe and the voice pipe drain pipe are all shut before we dive.

[texxn5]

That's a nice freshly polished brass bell.....looks like the Bo'sun did a good job...

[Piet]

Again my sincerest thanks to everyone who visited and liking my work.

 

Hello Daniel in Spain, good to hear from you and thanks for dropping in.  Yes, I do have that picture, that was taken when the O19 was overhauled in Scotland 1942 / 1943.  Reason was that the Dutch sub tender with all the spare parts and ammo was sunk by the Japs so they had to refit her with English size armaments.  They removed the deck-launch torpedo launcher and left the doors off.   They also removed the forward AA gun deck  and the snorkel system.

 

@ Sailor:  Yes indeed, very interesting thing about the helm.  They call it a steering wheel and according to the drawings I have now there were several.  one on the bridge, another one right below that in the command center and then one below that in the "central staten.  The one in the command center was located right below the crew hatch, which is actually very short.  That one was used when at periscope depth.  That whole part below the bridge to the end of the periscope housing was water tight and part of the pressure hull.  

My guess is that when maneuvering in shallow waters near the coastal areas to lay mines they wanted eye-ball control without having to relay commands down.  That's also the reason for having the engine / motor power controls on the bridge.  The prime purpose of the O19 and her sister the O20 was laying mines, not so much as an offensive weapon, although she could and did successfully.  That was also one of the reasons for having an AA gun forward of the con and the color scheme.

 

@ John: Yeah, the bell looks nice and will do for now till i find a smaller one.  The Bo'sun did indeed do a good job, ready for promotion 

 

Cheers to all,

[Piet]

A little more progress today.  The bridge is now completed except for the periscopes and antenna mast.

 

I finished the crew hatch, it now has a hinged lid, a ladder and is painted and installed!  

Next I made the snorkel intake pipe guard and installed that one together with the intake pipe.  While I was at it I also made the exhaust pipe and painted it.

 

This was all time consuming work but very satisfying.  Tomorrow we'll tackle the crew hatches on the gun decks and the AA gun buns.  I seriously doubt that I can finish all of them tomorrow but there is always another day.

 

Okay, here are a few pics of today's work.  

 

A seagull's eye view of the bridge.  The ladder and lid of the crew hatch is clearly visible here and yes, according to the drawings, this hatch tube does stick above the deck a little.  That crazy looking pipe with a hood like thing on top is the snorkel intake pipe with the protective guard.  That was a tough one to make.

 

A port side profile shot of the bridge with the entire conning tower.  That black pipe sticking up at the end of the con is the engine exhaust when snorkeling.  This allowed the boat to run the diesels to charge the batteries and continue to cruise while submerged.  This also allows the commander to cruise at a high speed without depleting the batteries.   It also provided fresh air for the crew that circulated through the boat.  Rather cleaver if you ask me.  Obviously, navigation was done with the navigation periscope.

As mentioned yesterday, right below the flag post holder you can see a small hole in the support.  That is to hook a block and tackle for the dingy lift boom. 

 

Cheers,

[Gino den Ridder]

Piet as usual your doing great there. I'm astonished about the amount of detail you are putting in her. Like I said before your model already looks better than the original model from the shipyard. 

 

@harvy1847 Th photo you show us here was made after the refit, and modifications in the UK in 1943. If you compare the photo with Piet's model, you will see that the front part of the conning tower has changed. The front AA gun had been removed. Probably because that whole section caused too much drag.

 

@Sailor1234567890 This actually was common practice for pre-war subs. Even the American fleetsubs had a helm on the bridge. Also if you look closely to early German subs you'll find the helm on the bridge. However, the German subs didn't have a wheel, but push buttons.

On the US subs the helm on the bridge was removed when the whole conning towers were reconstructed, from a closed bridge to an open on. One less man on the bridge means faster dive times. That's why the helm on the bridge disappeared...

[PacificCrossRoads]

Piet. Gorgeous!!!     

[texxn5]

The Con is getting lot's of details.....looks good.

[Piet]

First of all, to the many, and I mean many, who visited and "liked" my progress my sincerest thanks.

 

Hoi Gino, thanks for your compliments.  Yes, I guess I'm getting carried away a little by adding more stuff to the boat but am loving it.

Thanks for the added information about the configuration of the subs in the time before WW II.

 

Hello Boris, thank you!

 

Hi John, yup, that makes the model more realistic.

 

Well, today I only managed to complete the two crew hatches on both gun decks.  Just a lot of tedious work with small pieces of brass tubing and wire.  But they are now done, painted and installed.  I decided not to take pictures of it because there is really not much difference in how she looks now compared with yesterday's post. 

 

I also received the dye for the deck slats, so I'm now all set to start work on the gun decks.  Next project will be the lids for the AA gun buns.  That'll be a humdinger, many parts.

 

All y'all have a great weekend, stay warm or cool, as the case may be   and in good health,

 

Cheers,

[Kevin]

well you learn something new everyday, i never knew the bridge had telegraph and steering positions, i wonder when that all stopped, every modern submarine i have been on since ODIN built in 1968 all commands for course and spped is done via comms that being electrical or the tried and tested voice pipe

 

 

 

Sorry i should have read the earlier comments more closely

 

your build Piet looks fantastic

Edited January 11, 2014 by Kevin

[texxn5]

Stopping by for a look at today's progress.....I see it's not posted yet, oh well....I'm bendin an elbow of Leffe Blond to ya.....good stuff.  

[Piet]

Hello Kevin, yes, there are many differences between the pre WW II boats and those that came after, even between different nations.

Then also we must consider that the O19 class of boats, of which only two were build, were primarily mine laying subs and needed the capability of full and instant control from  the bridge.

Thanks for your compliment Kevin, coming from a submariner it's highly appreciated.

 

Hi John, thanks for dropping in and sorry for the lack of an update and hope you didn't hurt yourself hoisting that Leffe Blond    .  I take Saturdays as a rest day but will proceed again tomorrow.  I don't know how far I'll get with the AA gun bun lids and hinges.  I'll have to do some thinking and possible experimenting with the layout.  I'm trying to get as close as I can to make it similar to the pictures and drawings, using brass stock of course.  And then also still the guns themselves need some detailing.

 

Till next post,

 

Cheers, 

[Piet]

Thanks everyone for visiting and your like votes, it's much appreciated.

 

Could not get far today.  I forgot that I had our monthly meeting of the colored pencil society chapter here in Palm Coast.

 

I managed to fabricate the two hinge bracket pairs for the AA gun bun lids and soldered them to the lids.  

 

I first had to make the hinge mounts from brass sheet.  These are the rings you'll see on the photos.  I still have to make brackets that hold the center hinge part, a small copper tube, that'll be soldered to the ring  This will eventually be cemented to the outside of the styrene bun that sticks above the deck. 

 

The lid hinge brackets will have hinge pin holes drilled in them for the hinge pins to complete the hinge assembly.

 

It's kinda difficult to describe the manufacturing method so I have made a few pictures that hopefully will show what I mean.

 

I also had rotate the aft crew hatch tube by close to 90 degrees so the lid opens against the snorkel exhaust pipe instead of the port side railing.  I should have consulted the drawings first 

 

Well, that is all for today.  But it's progress and that's a good thing

 

This shows the parts I made for today's project.  The ring that'll go around the styrene tube and that'll be the foundation for the stationary hinge part.  Then the two hinge brackets to be soldered to the top of the lid.  The lid I made a week or so ago.

 

I figured to temporarily cement the brackets to the lid with a dab of CA so I can tack-solder the brackets because I had no way to hold them to the lid.  Big mistake because solder would not hold at that spot.  Fortunately it was only a tiny spot and is not noticeable.

For the second one I first spot-tinned both parts and then hand held each bracket to tack it to the lid.  Now I could hold both brackets to the lid with clothes pins and a steel clamp for a heat sink.

 

This is the completed lid assembly.  I made the brackets extra long so I can play with the final size.

 

This the same lid assy from a different angle.

 

This is the completed second lid assy.

 

This shows the forward gun placement. Here I have temporarily put the base ring over the styrene tube and placed the lid on top to show how it'll look like.  The lower part of the hinge bracket has to be made yet.

 

This shows the aft gun placement with the lid and base hinge ring temporarily put in place.  You can also see the change I made with the crew hatch tube.  

 

Cheers, 

 

 

Edited May 15, 2014 by Piet

[texxn5]

nice metalwork, I like the hinged hatch....looks like real...

[Remcohe]

Tricky soldering job Piet, really nice!

[Jim Lad]

Very nicely done on a couple of tricky joints, Piet!

 

John

[Piet]

Thank you all for visiting and your "likes."

 

Hello John (Texnn5):  Thank's for the compliment, it is fun work but hard on the fingers.  Holding those small parts between thumb and index finger while filing them has removed much of my thumb nail    Can't use a vicegip plier because it damages the brass.

 

Hey Remco, thanks and yes it was a little tricky doing the soldering but with some ingenuity I got it done. btw, your brick stove looks really good with the copper pan.

 

Hello John (Lad), thanks for dropping in and your compliment.  Your bowsprit is looking great.

 

 

Not much done today.  I started with the hinge part on the bun.  Formed the brace for the copper tube and was ready to solder that to the brass ring but had to stop for some stuff the Admiral needed to do and then lunch and off to the dentist, again.  This visit was supposed to be a quicky but didn't get out of there till 1700 hrs.  But I'll be getting two crowns installed on the 28th and that'll be the final part of the restoration project, yippee    

 

Well, more tomorrow.

 

Cheers, 

[mtaylor]

Nice hatches... nay, belay that.  Impressive hatches and I'm still not sure how you managed to solder both brackets but wow!!!

[popeye the sailor]

that's some very tedious work Piet.......the effort your putting into this build is fantastic!

[Piet]

Hello everyone and thanks for visiting and liking my work, really appreciated. 

 

Hi Mark, well, after I found out that CA glue and solder don't like each other I first tinned a small spot on the dome and the end of the brace.  Then held the brace in my left hand with tweezers and tacked it in on the lid.  Then I could use a steel office file clamp as a heat sink and soldered the rest.  The one next to it I did in a similar fashion.  Duck soup, as they say.  Thank you for your compliment!

 

Hello Popeye, thank you,  Yes, it's a little tedious but with some patience it works.

 

Today I semi finished the hinges for the AA gun bun lids.  Some more tedious work, even more so then the lids because of the hinge pin holes that had to line up  and allow the pin to go trough the little copper tube, straight, so the lid would close evenly.  It too worked out okay and I'm actually ready to cement the ring with the center hinge tube to the styrene bun.  

I think that I'll secure the hinge pins with a dab of 5 minute epoxy and then paint them.  The epoxy should simulate the securing hardware.

 

I also started to modify the two AA guns so I can put the two hand wheels on them to allow the crew to rotate and train the guns on their target.  No, They are not really going to rotate but at least it'll look like the guns are close to being finished.  (No pics for that little project yet)

 

This is how the bottom portion of the hinge assembly starts, a strip of brass sheet the same width as the outer ring that fits over the gun bun. The hinge pin bracket will be made from a piece of this strip.

 

This is the completed hinge pin bracket.  The copper tube will be soldered to the top of this bracket.

 

Here are all the parts I need to finish the complete hinge assembly.  The bun lid that was made yesterday, the ring that was made last week, the little bracket, the copper tube and brass pin for the hinge.  Sorry, but I did not make a photographic sequence of events in assembling all this to the finished product, you'll laugh when you see it 

 

This is the completed AA gun lid assembly on the forward gun bin.  I just put the gun in the bin for fun.

 

This is another shot of the forward gun lid assembly.

 

This is the aft AA gun bun lid in the closed position.

 

Cheers,

Edited May 15, 2014 by Piet

[Jim Lad]

More lovely work, Piet!

 

John

[harvey1847]

Truly Industrial work Piet.

 

I can hear the noise of the lid opening and the AA gun raising from its tube from here in Spain...

 

Best wishes!

 

 

daniel.

[Piet]

Thanks to everyone for visiting and your "like" votes.

 

Hello John, thank you my friend, I appreciate your visit and comment.

 

Hi Daniel in Spain, thank you also for dropping in and your appreciation for my work.  Yeah, swish - - - clang - clang 

I'm still working on these guns as we speak but getting there 

 

Cheers,